You can buy antifreeze containing methanol sold on the roadside and use it in the windshield washer reservoir of your vehicle. Expert Mikhail Kolodochkin from Za Rulem magazine told socialbites.ca about this. However, according to him, liquids made from ethanol or isopropyl alcohol do not qualify according to a number of criteria.
“Since vodka is made from ethanol, it is subject to high excise taxes. Isopropyl is used to make a liquid sold in department stores. It is the most unsuitable alcohol as its viscosity increases in cold weather. If it is -25 degrees outside, it may freeze or the jet from the nozzles may hit the bottom of the wiper blades. In methanol, the situation is exactly the opposite; it does not change its consistency, so you can and should buy such a liquid,” explained the expert.
As Kolodochkin notes, 20 years ago in Russia, the chief state sanitary doctor of the Russian Federation, Gennady Onishchenko, issued a decree banning the use of methanol in auto chemicals. It was stated that this type of alcohol does not cause any harm when used for its intended purpose, but cannot be used due to the low culture of the population.
“So instead of pouring methanol liquid into the glass washer chamber, some citizens poured it inside. And the most severe consequences; poisoning of the body, blindness, failure of internal organs,” the expert noted.
According to an auto expert, methanol-based antifreeze fluids are used in Northern Europe as well as in Canada, where winter temperatures reach -40 degrees Celsius.
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